Maw

What happened to Quickwater Crevice? This mystery is what drew Bryter to the scene of a strange massacre. His clan had little to do with the Quickwater Clan, but when all communication suddenly ceased and couriers reported that every last dragon and maren had been slaughtered, he simply had to investigate and see if he could figure it out.

It was not helpful that scavengers had disrupted the scene, though his quick eyes picked out disturbing clues: broken bones and tooth marks, like the culprit had been another Undertide. His first assumption was some kind of monster that only mimicked an Undertide in form, but the marks were too small to have been made by anything large enough to wipe out an entire lair and all its defenders.

His next assumption was the use of strong magic. Perhaps a rogue dragon had come seeking easy prey or swift revenge, some sorcerer who could command the elements to a frightening degree. Curiosity to find this individual pushed him onward.

For many months he sought clues, asking rangers and nearby clans for anything they might have seen that could lead him along the trail of the culprit. What he would do if he found them, he had no idea.

Eventually his search led him out of the abyss, to the shores of the Driftwood Drag. There, he found what he sought.

Or rather, Ifwyleth found him.

Even expecting a hard struggle, Bryter was blindsided by her strength and ferocity. He was taken to the relic, but even in such a situation his curiosity never faltered. He asked if it was the source of her power, if it gave her what she needed to wipe out the Quickwater Clan, and with her teeth at his neck, Ifwyleth explained.

Instead of seeking his soul, the relic saw a suitable new servant and spared him. Its whispers took some time to affect him—he was good at not listening when he chose to—but in the end the Whispering Burrows became his lair as well.

Those that encounter him now call him simply “Maw” in a quiet, frightened whisper. Through him, the entity of the inner abyss draws sustenance, filling him with an endless hunger and turning a once-bright investigator into little more than a ravening beast, following the Herald and tearing into whatever she does not forbid him from devouring.